Real estate stars Oren, Tal Alexander, brother accused of sex trafficking

Federal prosecutors in New York sued the top real estate the agents Of and Oren Alexander and their brother, Alon, drugging and raping “dozens of victims” over more than a decade..

The brothers “used their wealth and position to create and facilitate opportunities to rape and sexually assault women,” according to the newly unsealed federal sex-trafficking indictment.

Sometimes the women were “lured” with luxury trips to destinations where they were later sexually assaulted, the indictment alleged.

They also allegedly worked “with each other and with others known and unknown” to carry out the sex trafficking scheme. Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, declined to say who else is investigating the case.

The brothers – who were synonymous with Manhattan’s luxury real estate market before the allegations against them surfaced earlier this year – were arrested in Miami on Wednesday morning.

Each faces one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and one count of sex trafficking of a victim by force, fraud or coercion, according to the eight-page indictment in Manhattan U.S. District Court. Tal Alexander faces one additional count of sex trafficking of a victim by force, fraud or coercion.

If convicted, the brothers could face up to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Also on Wednesday, Florida State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle filed separate charges against Oren and Alon Alexander in connection with the alleged sexual assaults in the state.

Fernandez Rundle announced at a press conference that Oren was charged with two counts of sexual battery in two separate incidents, and one count of sexual battery by multiple perpetrators. Alon faces multiple sexual assault charges.

Ohad Fisherman, a cousin of Alexanders, also faces charges in the Florida state case but remains at large, Fernandez Rundle said.

New York prosecutors on Wednesday also appealed to federal judges in Manhattan and Miami keep the brothers in custody, argued, “he poses a permanent and significant risk to the community and poses a serious flight risk.”

That arrest warrant also stated that while the alleged conduct occurred between 2010 and 2021, the federal investigation concluded that the Alexander brothers had been raping and sexually assaulting the victims for more than 20 years — starting when they were in high school.

A lawyer for Oren, Susan Necheles, said in a statement to NBC News, “Oren Alexander is innocent. The evidence will show that neither he nor his brothers ever committed a crime.”

Isabelle Kirshner, an attorney for Alon and Oren, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An attorney for Tal, Deanna Paul, declined to comment.

“This behavior was allegedly outrageous,” U.S. Attorney Williams said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Williams noted that the Justice Department is still investigating the allegations against the Alexander brothers, and urged others with information about the case to come forward. “We’re not done,” he said.

Several women have previously filed civil lawsuits in Manhattan alleging sexual assault by their brothers. The brothers have denied wrongdoing.

“We are glad to hear that the Alexander brothers will finally be held accountable and justice for their many victims,” ​​said David Gottlieb, an attorney for several of the plaintiffs in the civil lawsuits. a statement.

“We applaud all survivors who, after years of pain and suffering, have had the strength and courage to speak about their unimaginable experiences,” Gottlieb said.

Federal court filings unsealed Wednesday accused the brothers of running a sex-trafficking scheme, tricking and forcing victims to travel to or meet them in private locations.

The brothers then “allegedly used a variety of methods, including drugging the victims and sometimes physical force, to rape and sexually assault the victims, sometimes alone and sometimes together.”

The indictment describes a series of methods the brothers allegedly used to facilitate the scheme.

The brothers organized events and international trips as “bait” to lure the women, who then “frequently” assaulted them, the complaint alleged.

They would also allegedly work with party promoters to get the women to attend parties and events at their vacation homes, including their home in the Hamptons. Before these events, they and others obtained drugs, including cocaine, mushrooms and the drug GHB, which is date rape drug.

Oren and Tal, in particular, allegedly “used their prominent positions in the real estate industry” to escort the women to events and parties. Alon runs the family’s private security business, Kent Security.

The brothers secretly drugged the women’s drinks “on several occasions” causing some of them to feel physically and mentally impaired, the indictment alleges.

“Immediately” after assaulting their victims, the brothers sometimes offered them “material items, trips, concert tickets and other luxury experiences,” according to the indictment.

They would also use similar tactics to rape women they met by chance at discos or parties, luring the women to a second location, the prosecutor alleged.

One of the brothers sometimes met women online and invited them to his apartment, prosecutors said in the arrest warrant.

The victims reportedly reported that “in most cases” one of the brothers would give them a drink at some point in the process, after which they would “inadvertently douse them with a substance that impaired their physical ability” or experience symptoms of flashbacks.

“Many of the victims said ‘no’ to their brothers or screamed while the rapes were taking place, but each time the defendants ignored their verbal resistance,” prosecutors said in a statement.

— CNBC’s Jim Forkin contributed to this report.